There’s no denying Destroyer of Light‘s prolific sense of adventure. The Austin, Texas quartet’s first release was a live set and in the eight years since, the band has let loose three albums, three EPs and a split with Tucson Doom monsters Godhunter. The latest of those EPs, Generational Warfare (Heavy Friends Records), is more of a ‘double-A side’: a two-song blast of mournful energy. Continue reading
Those who’ve known me for some time will have had their ears blunted by my constant praise for Birmingham, UK Industrial Doom duo Khost. Equal parts sampled violence, malevolent strings and vocal apocalypse, beautiful Eastern lamentations often deflect from that harsh path and create a nuance flavoured by the likes of VAST and Moby. Their fourth album Buried Steel (Cold Spring Records) sees a band now truly at ease with its style, happy to have edgy two-minute psalms populating a set in the knowledge that they serve a purpose for the whole.
Bethesda Games finally released Doom Eternal yesterday, complete with its “Death Metal Choir” recorded last year, by composer Mick Gordon! Of course, the soundtrack album is not yet available to purchase separately, but apparently it will be soon. Apparently, the Collectors Edition of the game will be released at some point with the additional full soundtrack and the soundtrack to Doom 2016. We have followed this news for some time, in which Gordon assembled a tremendous amount of heavy and underground vocal talent including bands such as Static- X, Aborted, Frontierer, Immortal Bird, Vault Dweller, Calvary, Wildspeaker, Black Crown Initiate, Sectioned, Tengger Calvary (RIP Nature G), The World I Knew, The Anchor, and more. You can listen to a sneak peek of this audio until someone’s lawyer makes them take it down. Continue reading
The more disparate aspects influence a band, the more it’s able to grow. Psalm Zero‘s music prior to the new album Sparta (Last Things Records) was all aggravated Indie, the tunes given an edge by guitarist Andrew Hock. With his departure and the subsequent recruitment of Kayo Dot pairing Keith Abrams and Ron Vodun, remaining founder member Charlie Looker has added a warmer, heavier feel to the Grungey lightness and this, together with a tantalising contribution from Lingua Ignota‘s Kristin Hayter, makes the album an enticing prospect. Continue reading
For over eight years, Dana Schechter and Ashley Spungin created heavy, eerie soundscapes as Brooklyn-based duo Insect Ark. When this fragmented last year, with a new album and US tour in the pipeline, leading force Schechter found herself in a tight corner until a serendipitous union with former SubRosa drummer Andy Patterson enabled the renewed probability of both. Tour almost complete, it’s time for the fourth album The Vanishing (Profound Lore Records) to hit the airwaves and Patterson’s influence, together with a more intense writing process, sees the band’s sound throb with added weight. Continue reading
Hot on the heels of ex-bandmate Hamish Glencross’s latest effort with new band Godthrymm comes The Ghost Of Orion (Nuclear Blast), the fourteenth full-length from Yorkshire Gothic Doom royalty My Dying Bride. This year celebrating 30 years as an entity, any pressure the band may have felt is counteracted by an expectedly assured, emotionally raw performance that comes with such craftsmanship and experience. Continue reading
Last year we brought the news of the forthcoming soundtrack to the new Doom Eternal game, coming in a few weeks on 3/20/2020 from Bethesda Games. Composer Mick Gordon recruited a who’s who of metal singers from across genres via open call. Now Gordon has shared a behind the scenes featurette on the creation of the music, which also features a teaser of gameplay as well. The video includes prominent cameos from Tony Campos of Static-X and Asesino, James Dorton of Black Crown Initiate, Lindsay Rae of The Anchor, Wesley Meritt of The World I Knew, Natalie Kahan of Wildspeaker, Sven De Caluwe of Aborted, and Nature G. Ganganbaigal of Tengger Calvary, who passed away a few months after recording this. Other artists from bands participating in the soundtrack included Frontierer, Immortal Bird, Vault Dweller, Sectioned, and many more! Watch the clip now!